Visitor
by WorldsWorthlessToy
Summary: “You have grown a little, but you re still the same idiot as always. Usuratonkachi.” Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. “Who gave you the right to call me that?”, he hissed. “What do you want anyway?” - 1 2 during Naruto s journey, 3 4 after
1. Chapter 1

Visitor

Naruto´s knees were shaking. His breath came in gasps. His hands were scratched and full of dirt. He fought a moment longer, than he gave up and fell to his knees, the hands sinking weakly to the ground.

Jiraiya smirked. He was rather impressed by the strength the boy built up after one single year of training and if it was anyone else than Naruto he would have complimented him – but he knew that right now compliments would only make Naruto angrier. What he needed was pressure. Jiraiya understood the boy – better than the idiot would ever know. It was nearly intimidating how similar the brat was to Jiraiya´s old self.

"Are you done for already?" Naruto´s head shot upwards. "Come again, you perverted old bastard?" "I asked if that´s all you´re capable of", Jiraiya explained coldly. "Because if so, we´ll go back to our inn so you can rest a little." He sensed he hit the right spot immediately. He was supposed to take care of Naruto and stop him when he was going too far, but he wasn´t right now. It was just right to add another half hour or so.

Two and a half hour later they went back to their inn, Naruto exhausted to the very limit. Jiraiya had rented a single-person room for each of them this time because Naruto was rather erratic – at times he was determined and didn´t mind the rest, sometimes he was even friendly, but at others he was so irritable about his improvements which weren´t good enough for him that he could become furious and violent at any minute. Not that this was dangerous for the Sannin – it was just annoying and not always easy to deal with.

One of those phases had started some days ago when they arrived here so they had two rooms now. They trained so hard it was sometimes even exhausting Jiraiya himself.

When Naruto entered his room he sensed something was wrong in an instant. He entered it nevertheless and closed his door. Then he looked around. "I know you´re here", he said, not letting his voice show his exhaustion. Someone stepped out from behind the cupboard. Naruto almost yelled at him. There, in his room in some inn in a town he couldn´t remember the name of, stood Sasuke Uchiha.

He needed a minute to calm down. Then he crossed his arms in front of his chest, staring the bastard to death – if looks could kill. Sasuke stared back emotionlessly. But he was the first one to talk. "Just so you know", he stated. "I´m a clone." "I can see that by looking at you", Naruto lied. He hadn´t noticed. He didn´t care. A clone would as well have to answer his questions. "What are you doing here? Already time to come and kill me?" "I wouldn´t waste my time on something pointless", the Sasuke clone said.

Naruto didn´t know why he didn´t call for Jiraiya. The Sannin knew Orochimaru much better than him and he would most certainly be the better one to ask the bastard´s clone some questions. A long moment of staring at each other went by, then the clone spoke again, with a smug smile Naruto wanted to punch off his face. "You have grown a little, but you´re still the same idiot as always. Usuratonkachi." Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Who gave you the right to call me that?", he hissed. "What do you want anyway?"

The clone didn´t smile anymore. "I´m sent here to tell you…" He stopped. Naruto raised the eyebrows. "Cat got your tongue?" The clone lowered his head. Naruto all but flinched. He never saw Sasuke do that. "I´mheretotellyouI´malright." Naruto felt the anger boil in his veines. "And what, what the fuck makes you think I care?", he yelled at the clone. "I don´t give a fuck if you´re alright or not, all that I care for is if you´re still alive so I can kill you, bastard!" The clone still stared at the ground.

"Is that so?", he said quietly. "Well, so now you know I´m still alive. That´s all-" He raised his hands to form a releasing seal but Naruto jumped across the room and tried to hold his wrists, his hands going right through the clone. The clone looked up. "Hm?" "Hey! Where are you? What the fuck are you doing? You know Orochimaru only-" "Shut up", the clone interrupted. Naruto wanted to snap, but the clone talked on. "I´m not here to give you any information at all", he stated. "I´m off." "WAIT!" The clone lowered his hands. "Something you want to say?" Naruto growled. He wanted to ask about Sasuke´s whereabouts. He wanted to ask him if he really was alright. He wanted to know why he tried to kill him. He wanted to ask why he didn´t kill him even if he had been able to do so. "There is something, dattebayo", he insisted. "Come the fuck back home, you stupid bastard!" The clone smiled again. But this time not smugly but somehow even… glad.

"Oi, bastard! Why are you grinning? What´s so funny? I told you to come back, got it!" Naruto knew it was pointless but he couldn´t help but punch right into the face, even if his fist went straight through it. "Come back, come back, come back!!!" His exhausted fists flew through the clone and he spinned around and breathed heavily, tears burning in his eyes. The clone stood there, calm. "Save your strength, usuratonkachi", he said. "Don´t you need to train?" Naruto was speechless. "You dare", he growled after several seconds of tensed silence. "You dare sending a clone here to provoke me? Just you wait! I´ll find you and kick your ass so hard you fly all the way back to Konoha, dattebayo!" The clone smirked. Long moments neither of them spoke a word. Then the clone raised his hands again, prepared to dispel himself and carry the memory of this conversation to the real Sasuke. He reached out and if he could touch Naruto, he would have ruffled his hair.

"You´re as boastful and as annoying as ever, idiot", he said. Then he formed his seal. "Wait", Naruto yelled and reached out for the clone, but his hand didn´t even touch (or rather not-touch) the clone before he was gone. Naruto lowered his hand, clenching it to a shaking fist. His whole body was tense and shuddering with suppressed tears of fury and helplessness. Naruto threw himself onto his bed and covered his face with his hands.

He didn´t know why (he should really tell at least Sakura if he came home again sometime) but he decided he would never, never ever tell that. To nobody. His body hurt. He tried to relax. "I´ll find you, bastard", he murmured, already half asleep. "You can bet your life on that." He had made a promise to Sakura. And he had made a promise to himself. He would, as sure as death, bring that bastard back home.

--

PS: I´m not quite sure if clones are like shadow clones and carry the memories of their activities with them. But for this I had to assume it.

The background is that Sasuke just couldn´t stand it anymore to know Naruto was completely oblivious to his welfare, so he decided to let him now and see for himself if the usuratonkachi was alright.

This is not Yaoi even though one can think of it like this. I, anyway, don´t care – they´re brilliant together, this way or another.

PPS: I´m not a native speaker so I´m grateful for all advice you want to give me. Plus, if you write and upload yourself you know the amazing feeling of getting a review, so don´t be egoistic and share it : )


	2. Chapter 2

Visitor

Chapter 2

Dedicated to: RockPopnMetal007. Without you this would stay a oneshot.

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat and with images in his head, images of Sakura, of Kakashi and all the others, down on the ground, motionless, breathing no more, stained in ruby red. And above all, on top of the Hokage building, someone with blood dripping from his sword to the dirty ground of the rooftop. Someone with red eyes spiraling in anticipation, watching Naruto as if wondering what color his blood would be.

He looked at his own hands. He had to think of the land of the waves for some reason. It had been Team 7´s first real mission. He had saved Sasuke. Sasuke had saved him. They had been training together, fighting together. The country´s hero had said if there was something one loved he was to protect it with his own two arms.

Naruto closed his eyes, exhaled deeply and got upright, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He looked to his left where the Ero-sennin was slumbering peacefully in the other bed. No ruby. Nowhere.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. He had to stop that. Imagining the worst case scenario wouldn´t keep I from happening. He had to look forward, into the REAL future, not into some nightmare-like vision, blurred and shrill like one of Sharingan´s genjutsu. He got up and decided to have some water. As he walked over and bent down to his bottle on one corner of the room, he thought to hear some noise on the roof, but he ignored it.

After he refreshed himself he stretched and yawned and turned around to go back to bed – when he out of all sudden met two coal black eyes staring into his. He froze. The person didn´t talk. Only Jiraiya´s soft snoring broke the silence. Then Naruto raised a hand, clenched it to a fist and let it meet the visitor´s face. It went through.

"Just what I thought", he whispered. "No need for you to show your real face, bastard, huh?" The Sasuke clone remained silent. "What are you doing here?", Naruto asked, trying hard to keep his voice down even though the sight of Sasuke standing on front of him so calmly almost drove him up the walls. "Here to tell me you´re alright again?"

The clone sighed. "Of course not. I´m here to tell you I´m still alive since all the rest doesn´t matter to you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Thanks to his training which was, most surprisingly, not limited on powerful ninjutsu, he sensed the clone´s restlessness in an instant. "Something you want to ask?", he asked, not sure what to tell the clone and let Sasuke know – everything could be used against him, after all Sasuke was the enemy now.

"It´s not like you to notice things like that", the clone said. "How´s your training going?"  
Naruto kept his mouth shut even though he felt like his lower jaw tried to respond to an extremely high gravity. "You don´t want to tell me?"

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why should you care?"

"You think I´m spying on you", the clone said sharply. Naruto didn´t respond. "Don´t worry", the clone added. "I´m just trying to figure out if you´re good enough to entertain me a bit already." Naruto reminded himself to stay calm and quiet – if Jiraiya woke up, the clone would vanish in an instant, he was sure of that much.  
"Whaddaya mean, entertain you?"

"Last time was pretty lame, you know, usuratonkachi", the Sasuke clone said, sounding bored to no end. "I´m waiting for you to become a little less of a waste of time and a little more of an enemy." Naruto gritted his teeth, a low growling escaping him just like last time when the bastard sent a clone.

"Well, if you´re all high and mighty, why don´t you come yourself and try it out?", he asked, sounding much more furious and much less desperate than he was – he knew the clone wouldn´t tell him where Sasuke was and that was what he wanted, no, needed to know! He himself hadn´t been home for two years now and he was trying to insanely miss his home even though it was a place of bad memories for him, being bullied and pushed away all through his childhood. How could Sasuke not miss Konoha? How could he not miss Sakura and Kakashi? And how… how could he not miss Naruto, the one he himself called his best friend?

"You know, I kind of miss you, knucklehead", the clone said, now crossing his arms himself. "You are annoying, but… amusing, sometimes. Even though your abilities were… more than pathetic."

"So that´s what you miss about me?", Naruto hissed. "Me entertaining you with my stupidity and swallowing all your shit insults all day?"  
"It was you who started the insulting", the clone stated. "And I´ll take my leave now. I´m not here to fool around with some idiotic hypocrite."

"So why are you here?"

The clone remained silent, but didn´t dispel himself either.

"Why are you here… Sasuke?"

"I can´t wander around in Konoha, not even as a clone", the clone said quietly. "And right now I felt like musing a little about the past."

"So you want to say you miss it." Naruto grinned, triumphant. He knew it.

"I don´t", the clone replied plainly.

"Then what about Team 7?", Naruto asked, his grin vanishing, his head lowering. "What about our time together? Zabuza and Haku, the Chuunin exam? Idate´s race?" Naruto couldn´t help it. He had to bring that up now and he wasn´t able to restrain his voice anymore, talking dangerously loud. "Don´t you remember when we worked together to free Kakashi-sensei from Zabuza? And when we did the tree climbing exercise until we almost fainted from exhaustion only to not lose against the other? And when you nearly died and I saved you and I nearly died and you saved me and the forest of death, where-" "SHUT UP!"

Naruto all but bite his tongue. Jiraiya was waking up. Naruto raised his head and looked the upset clone in the black eyes. "Shut up", the clone repeated, whispering now, his Sharingan spinning.

"This is past." Jiraiya rubbed his eyes, yawning. "Grow up, Naruto." The clone vanished.

Jiraiya blinked. "Naruto? Are you talking to yourself?" Naruto couldn´t move. He couldn´t even breath for several seconds. Then he took in a deep, calming breath. He had been right. "It´s nothing, Ero-sennin", he said and went back to his bed, sitting on the edge, looking at his bare feet. "Go back to sleep."

He had been right. Sasuke WAS missing him and the others. Sasuke DID hate his decision. Naruto could tell. And this was just the basis he needed. Like he hadn´t been able to hold Sasuke back since he himself decided to leave he would be able to make him return for Sasuke himself wished so. Naruto would beat him into a bloody pulp if he had to (after kicking Orochimaru´s ass, of course) and carry him back to Konoha on his shoulders and as soon as Sasuke would be fully conscious again he would thank Naruto in his knees for returning him and they would be team 7 again and everything would…

No.

Naruto shook his head. That was impossible. Sasuke was a missing nin now. He couldn´t turn back. He just couldn´t. He would be punished if he came back to Konoha. But granny Tsunade – maybe Naruto could talk to her. Make her forgive Sasuke in the name of the village. After all, right now Sasuke didn´t do anything to Konoha. It wasn´t too late. It was never too late.

But there wasn´t much time either. Two years had passed – if they waited any longer, Sasuke´s body maybe would be obsessed by Orochimaru already. He looked at his Rasengan-burned palm. He had to become stronger, and quickly. He had to become stronger than Sasuke and Orochimaru. And he would! There were few things truly precious to him and Sasuke was one of them. With his own two arms he would protect what was important to him!

And after all, he promised Sakura. And he would definitely keep his promise! He wouldn´t go back on his words! He thought of Sakura and Kakashi. What were they doing without him and Sasuke? Sakura was probably busy becoming the most awesome medical ninja in the world and Kakashi-sensei would sure as hell try to find some information on Orochimaru. And all of them working together, this just wasn´t supposed to go wrong!

Naruto was thankful for the stamina and the strength his tough childhood had left him with. He was no child anymore. Neither was Sasuke. They would handle it as men and in the end he wouldn´t let Sasuke outdo him. After all, he was the one becoming Hokage someday!

--

PS: Oh, I LOVE Naruto´s attitude, believe it! He´s going to kick ass as Hokage!

PPS: So this is the second chapter. I´m not sure if I´ll do more. I think it´s fine as a twoshot. I so enjoyed to see how the characters had grown in Shippuuden so I always thought I would have to write something that would happen in-between. Yes, Sasuke misses Naruto and the others – Naruto is the one acknowledging him the most with all their rivalry. Rivalry may seem like hatred, but actually it´s a way of telling a person one thinks of him as a worthy opponent, which is, after Sasuke´s father´s disregard, the action complimenting and supporting Sasuke the most. All the screaming girls won´t make Sasuke feel appreciated, after all. That´s what I think.

Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who comments.

Toy.


	3. Chapter 3

Visitor

Chapter 3

Dedicated to: Frozen Impulse. It´s thanks to you that there IS a third chapter in the first place, so I hope you enjoy reading it.

Two and a half year was a long time. A really long time. Perhaps not long if one was thinking about the history of Konoha or the genesis of the universe, but it was a long time if thinking about being on a seemingly endless journey, exhausting one´s self to the edge of acceptance by training every minute awake.

In any case, two and a half year certainly WAS a long time for an apartment not being cleaned. As Naruto entered his old home he was gretted by a finger-thick layer of dust, getting dispersed by him opening the door which was – unsurprisingly – squeaking like Ino confronted with a picture of Sasuke all nude. Well, probably her brush on him vanished after all this time – Naruto didn´t know for he didn´t meet Ino since he came back.

Naruto coughed, the dust getting into his nose and open mouth, making him shudder violently. He sneezed two times before getting a hold on himself and pressing a hand over mouth and nose. Shutting the door he caused another great stir, unable to bring up the patience to close the door slowly enough not to do so. He was tired after all and had been homesick for too long.

He thought of the time he had spent cleaning his home before leaving nearly three years ago, unable to decide if it helped anything at all or not. Making his way to his bedroom, ignoring the miniature dust devils caused by his feet meeting the ground with a muffled sound, he sensed someone in his bedroom. It wasn´t as if this someone was making any sound, but he didn´t even seem to bother to mask his chakra so it was no feat to detect his presence.

Naruto would have opened the door light-hearted, looking inside to see who was visiting him at once – if he wouldn´t have had a pretty good idea who that was. He stood in front of his own door, hesitating. What the fuck did Sasuke plan, sending him clones every once in a while? Provoke him? Make him sad? What sense does this make??? Well, he knew one way to find out.

He opened the door, met by a sight he didn´t expect. It was a ninja he didn´t know, leaning against his dusty windowsill. He wore the forehead protector of the village hidden in the rain. At first the sight startled Naruto but he got the sense of this after some seconds. The ninja smirked, noticing his awareness and dispelled the transforming jutsu.

And there he was, Sasuke´s clone, tall, slender, wearing the clothing of Orochimaru and his subordinates and looking more dangerous than ever before, especially with the long, narrow sword on his back, making him appear like a silent hangman. Actually, he was just this. He was a shinobi. Killing was his second nature. The blood on his hands was his jewelry. He was an executor. Eyes like coals, black until they would glow ruby red and blood with a coldness to put dry ice to shame flowing in his veins, every fiber of him death wrapped in a handsome, almost disturbingly perfect body.

"Rain?" Naruto went to his bed, hardly able to control his breath and the shaking in his voice. "The rain ninja look all the same", the clone replied. "And during the Chuunin exams nobody minds a rain ninja running around here. For me, of course, it would be a little harder to move around here, since they´re searching me as an S-ranked criminal."

Naruto put his backpack down onto his dusty bed and said: "Unless you´re here to lead me to the real Sasuke, you can fuck off at any-" He interrupted himself. Were clones able to do transformation jutsu? He wasn´t sure. Maybe this was…! He was on his feet in a second and catching Sasuke´s white jacket in the next. He could touch him. This was a shadow clone. He had real flesh. And everything, everything Sasuke would do to that flesh Sasuke would remember if the clone vanished. He raised a fist. "Remember", said the clone, not bothering to raise a hand at the sight of Naruto´s shaking fist over his shoulder, prepared to punch him straight in the face to carry the memory to the original bastard. "If you punch too hard, I´ll vanish."

Naruto didn´t move, only gritting his teeth. "Why aren´t you defending yourself?" The shadow clone didn´t answer, he just smirked. Naruto knew the answer. It was true. One punch a little too hard or a little too well placed and the shadow clone would vanish. And he wouldn´t let him vanish. He wouldn´t let him just disappear. He needed to know…

"Why didn´t you kill me?" The shadow clone still didn´t speak, only raising an eyebrow. "Why didn´t you kill me back then, bastard?" Naruto´s voice became a confused yell. "And why the fuck do you keep sending me those retarded clones? Why don´t you come and face me by yourself?" The clone gripped his fist and loosened the grip of his fingers without visible effort. Naruto backed off a few steps. Holy shit. It most certainly seemed like Sasuke hadn´t been goofing around the past three years.

"I´m sending these to investigate on what´s keeping you from coming and getting me back as you said", the shadow clone explained. "I must say I´m a little disappointed. You don´t seem to have gained some strength after all. If we meet for real, I´ll finish you off in the blink of an eye. It´ll be boring. Such a waste of time." Naruto´s fist flew with perfect aim and a strength that would have made the shadow clone vanish at once, if he wouldn´t have caught the punch in mid-air, squeezing Naruto´s fist in his own, painfully bruising his fingers.

"Calm down, usuratonkachi", the shadow clone said dismissively. "Save your strength for finding the original, shouldn´t you?" Another fist was swung and caught. "Are you just weak or are you holding back?", the fake Sasuke asked, fueling Naruto´s fury to no end. "Afraid to go hard on me? You shall be warned – this can be the end of everything. Pity is nothing a shinobi should let himself being influenced by."

"Me, feeling pity? For a bastard like you who doesn´t care to abandon his friends and fraternize with the murderer of the Third just to get his shitty revenge?" Sasuke didn´t snap like last time they talked about this. He was calm. Disturbingly calm. "It´s none of your business what I do", he said. But Naruto knew what he was about to say, even though it was nothing but the fucking truth would crack the nut and make Sasuke show some emotion.

"If you just told me about what happened and stayed with us, you egoistic bastard, I would have helped you slay anyone who did anything to you or your clan! I would even have gone with you to kill your sick brother!" Silence accrued. Then the clone spoke. "You… would?" Naruto shook his head. "No more. Too late, Sasuke." Another silence.

"Why didn´t you tell me?" Naruto didn´t look at the clone as he spoke. He looked at his own hands, standing in front of his bed, his hands at the backpack in a somewhat awkward way. "Why did you never really tell me what happened? I would have helped you, even if just by being the one to make you stronger by fueling your anger. I would have made you angry enough with me to become so strong your brother wouldn´t stand a chance anymore if support wasn´t what you needed. I would have helped you", he repeated. The clone´s eyes widened. He heard a voice in his head whisper: "I´ll always be there for you, and even if just as an obstacle for you to overcome. That´s what a big brother is for."

"That´s what best friends are for, after all", Naruto muttered. "But I guess it wasn´t enough for you. Otherwise you would have woke me up back then in the valley of the end and told me what happened and that you need me to help you. I would have helped you and so would Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei. But no, of course not. Sasuke Uchiha is greater than anyone else and therefore the only one worthy enough to train him is the man who murdered the Hokage." The sarcasm and hurt in Naruto´s voice made the Sasuke-clone´s throat go dry.

"I know why you send clones. You´re homesick, aren´t you?" The clone didn´t reply. "Well, this did never have to happen. It was you, Sasuke. It´s your own fault – and, well, mine since I didn´t beat you back then in the valley. But in the end it was you who decided to run away. It was you, Sasuke, who fucked this up and destroyed everything he had with his own hands." Still the clone remained silent. "I understand if you want revenge", Naruto said, his voice getting more and more quiet.

"And I´d be the last one to tell you to forget about it. But if you wouldn´t be such a blind, self-possessed bastard you would´ve seen you´ve got great friends to help you. But you didn´t want to see." He sounded like some monk preaching eternal friendship as the one and only religion. He didn´t even care. "And now…" He left his position in front of his bed and closed the step distance between them. The next words were no whisper but a scream full of fury, underlined by red, slit-pupiled eyes. "…I don´t want to see you anymore! You can´t come back anymore! So stop fucking toying around with me!"

His fist was so fast this time that the clone had no chance of blocking it. Naruto buried his fist in the clone´s cheek, maybe crashing a tooth or two, but since it was only a clone that would disappear in a second, it didn´t matter. Blood spilled on the dusty carpet and the clone fell to the side, Naruto waited, fist still in the air, for the clone to disappear. The clone supported himself on his hands, wiping the blood from his mouth. Naruto stared at him, lowering his fist in disbelief.

"No way", he whispered. "No fucking way!" Sasuke got up and smirked at him. "Surprise, knucklehead." Still Naruto didn´t lower his fist. "Impossible!" "Not as impossible as you deem it to be", Sasuke, the REAL Sasuke, said. "Never thought of me being unable to summon shadow clones, did you, idiot? I have never had the chance to study the forbidden scroll of sealing." Now Naruto´s fist fell, his mouth gaping open. "B-But… you… are…" Sasuke didn´t interrupt his stuttering. He just watched him.

Then there was a four-man squad of ANBU suddenly standing in Naruto´s apartment, two of them holding Sasuke´s arms. Before Naruto could talk one of them said: "Uchiha Sasuke, you are to be brought to Lady Hokage to be convicted." The two ANBU at Sasuke´s arms were repelled by a chakra wave coming from Sasuke´s body but before Sasuke could even reach for his sword the third one rammed a syringe into his neck.

Naruto wasn´t fooled. Sasuke was stronger than that. He didn´t defend on purpose. Sasuke sank to his knees, his eyes, with a last, strangely amused look into Naruto´s, falling shut and his body getting nerveless, collapsing on the dusty floor. Naruto could do nothing but stare, his eyes burning, shimmering, as the ANBU picked up Sasuke and vanished through the open window, leaving nothing behind but the few drops of scarlet blood on Naruto´s carpet that Sasuke coughed up earlier, staining the dust.

--

PS: Okay, that´s it. It´s become a threeshot. B. U. T. Well, I have a few ideas for a continuance. We´ll see. Maybe.

PPS: Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far – you´re awesome!


	4. Chapter 4

Visitor

Chapter 4

Dedicated to: My sister who is currently celebrating her birthday with her dear friends. Even though she will most likely never read this: You´re the best sister one can have.

"_In the shinobi world, those who do not obey the rules are called trash. But those who abandon their friends are even worse than trash."_ Kakashi was grateful for his mask once again. He didn´t want people to see what he thought. That came in handy at times, not only in battle but at times like this, too. When he was sitting on a wooden bench, looking at the black spikes of hair that hid, at least to him, Uchiha Sasuke´s stoic face. The only ones able to see his face right now were Tsunade, the Hokage, and the people sitting next to her on the judges´ table.

_You will never know how much of a guideline your words have become to me, Obito, _Kakashi thought. _There is nothing more valuable than friendship and teamwork. Why the hell am I hesitating anymore? I see Sasuke regrets what he´s done, maybe except from killing Itachi and Orochimaru. So what is keeping me? _He narrowed his visible eye. _Nothing. Not anymore. You probably never knew how right you were all the time, Obito. _He raised his hand.

Tsunade´s eyes found him and he say the flash of gratefulness in them. Tsunade didn´t know Uchiha Sasuke. She didn´t know what to make of him and she wasn´t sure how to judge the crimes he committed either. Kakashi smirked, his eye, the only part visible of his face, bowed upwards in a happy way. "Hatake Kakashi", Tsunade said. "You may talk." Kakashi got up. He was grateful Naruto wasn´t here for the hyper idiot would probably have needed three or four shinobi to hold him back so he wouldn´t punch Sasuke off the seat he was on. _I will lie now and everyone will know and nevertheless nobody will be able to do something about it, _Kakashi thought and planned his words with diligence.

"I want to give evidence about the truth behind what Uchiha Sasuke did", he said and felt the eyes of the almost thirty people in the room piercing his skin like needles. "Your testimony is welcome", Tsunade said. "Please talk." Kakashi nodded, and then he spoke. "Uchiha Sasuke is to be acquitted of the crimes he is accused of. Nothing he did was his own decision. He was following orders." Everyone looked at him, except for Sasuke and Kakashi was grateful for it. Not because he was afraid he wouldn´t be able to lie on if the traitor looked at him but because he knew it would look suspicious. What was he thinking? Nobody in here believed what he said. That was an unspoken truth.

"It was me who commanded him to do what he did. This was because I saw nothing of the measures taken worked and I wanted to help both the village and the Fire Country by collecting information on both Orochimaru and the organization Akatsuki. It was me who ordered Sasuke to kill Orochimaru and it was me who ordered him to gather information on his brother. That he killed Uchiha Itachi, I admit, was partly his own will for he was seeking revenge for the homicide committed on his clan. But since Uchiha Itachi had been an S-Rank criminal, murdering him is not a crime. Therefore Uchiha Sasuke has to be absolved of said crimes. I bear responsibility for everything he did."

Tsunade´s eyes narrowed. Kakashi gave the look back, not smiling anymore, just waiting. She didn´t believe him nor did the elders or the other judges. But there was nobody who could prove the opposite either. Kakashi knew he won. Tsunade wouldn´t be able to accuse him of betrayal now for all he said he did was for the village´s sake. And she wasn´t able to accuse Sasuke anymore for he was, according to the testimony of an elite jounin, irresponsible for everything he did.

"Very well", Tsunade said and her face was unreadable. "Uchiha Sasuke, you are absolved from everything that this court accused you of. I close the hearing." She coiled up the scroll in front of her and Shizune got up. "Everyone is to leave the courtroom now." She sat again, her dark eyes fixed on Kakashi. Kakashi stared back until she looked away. Sasuke got up. He wasn´t wearing the clothing of Orochimaru and his subordinates anymore but a plain, black shirt and matching trousers along with black shinobi sandals. He left the room without any sign of gratefulness or relief. He almost looked a little bitter.

Kakashi also left the courtroom and saw Sasuke leaning against a window sill on the cabinet. Many people around him looked at him more or less concealed and whispered behind their hands. He didn´t even seem to notice. Kakashi caught his eyes and Sasuke began walking down the floor. Kakashi took the hint and followed him. When reaching an empty room they walked in and Kakashi calmly closed the door behind himself. "Why did you do that?" Kakashi saw the hint of red in Sasuke´s black eyes. He knew he was furious and he knew why. Sasuke had always taken responsibility for everything he did. He wasn´t used to nor did he like the thought of someone else stepping into the breach for him.

"You would have been sentenced to death if they would have gotten the chance do adjudge you", Kakashi explained, his voice sounding impassive. "Did you want to die?" "I don´t care", Sasuke said. "You lied. Nobody believed it." Kakashi shrugged. "I know. They know I know. But they also know there´s not a single thing on earth they can do about it." "You´re a cunning bastard", Sasuke said without a smile. "I didn´t want you to-" "Shut up." A second passed and then Sasuke´s Sharingan began to show up. "What did you just say?"

Kakashi crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I told you to shut up", he explained dryly. "And besides there is something one should say when somebody did something for them. But since it´s you I don´t expect you to. Just find Naruto and Sakura and apologize for all the pain you put them through." With that he vanished in a puff of smoke. Sasuke stood there, looking through the window with the same impassive face which he sported during the hearing. His mask didn´t crumble.

Right, Naruto and Sakura. How was Sakura anyway? He hadn´t seen her in years. Maybe she wasn´t as whiny and as useless anymore as she had been until he left. He decided to find out. But he wouldn´t apologize. He sighed. He had nothing planned for now for he expected himself to be dead by now. He had been prepared to die. After getting his revenge he hadn´t thought further than being captured and sentenced to death and now, as wrong as it seemed, he was still alive and would stay alive for now. Well, maybe not. Probably Naruto would kill him. If not for bringing pain to him and Sakura, then maybe for coming back on his own, without being dragged back as Naruto always promised. He would probably feel depressed because it hadn´t been him bringing him back.

Naruto´s words came back to his mind. _You can´t come back home. _See, usuratonkachi, Sasuke thought almost amused, I _can_. He left the building, well aware of everyone´s eyes following him as he went through the streets, whispering his name and passing on rumors and truths. He went to the apartment building Naruto lived in. Would the idiot be at home in the first place? Maybe he would be out and searching for him. Sasuke almost snickered. _Baka._

.

Naruto came home the next day, tired from searching for the ANBU team that captured Sasuke and yelling at guards at all kinds of doors that could be hiding them. He rubbed his aching eyes and went up the stairs to his flat. When he entered the floor, he stopped and sniffed. This was definitely the scent of ramen! He frowned. It came from his own door. He crossed the floor with six angry wide steps and found his door open. He entered and slammed it shut. He already knew who it was – who else would do something like that? – but he didn´t believe it, not right now. He stumped into the kitchen and found none other than Uchiha Sasuke sitting on his chair and eating his ramen as if it was the most natural thing there was.

Naruto´s mouth fell open. "B-Bastard?" Sasuke didn´t bother to look up but swallowed and said: "G´day." _"G´day???" _Naruto exploded at once. "You leave the village on your own, go to Orochimaru, try to kill me and don´t get it over with, send me a goddamned clone once a year to mock me and then come back, get hauled off and now return, sitting in my kitchen and eating my ramen and then everything you asshole can think of is G´DAY???"

Sasuke looked up and blinked as if Naruto´s fury was a mystery to him. Naruto took some deep breaths to steady himself, then he said: "So you´re acquitted? Or will you be gone and on the run in a minute again?" Sasuke shook his head. "I guess I´ll have to stay. There is someone I owe a lot. I don´t like being indebted to anyone." He ate the last of the ramen and got up. "Thanks for the meal, knucklehead. I was nearby and hungry so I let myself in and helped myself. I assume you don´t mind."

He intended to walk by Naruto and maybe go home and try to get used to the thought of still being alive but he didn´t make it past the doorway when a hand caught his shirt and dragged him back. Naruto turned him around, blue eyes narrowed angrily. "You really deem it that simple, now don´t you?", he said. Sasuke remained quiet. Naruto shook with wrath. Sasuke had been right – the fact it hadn´t been him who took Sasuke back mocked him beyond belief.

"Fight me", Naruto said. Sasuke couldn´t help but smirk. It was nearly as it had been when he had been in hospital, uneasy at the thought of Naruto improving faster than himself and challenging him. "Of course I will", he said. "You lead the way?" Naruto let go of his collar, then he went outside and Sasuke followed him to the training grounds.

.

Three hours later Sasuke´s knees gave in and he sank to the ground next to Naruto. Both were panting heavily, clothes full of dirt and blood, both their own and one another´s. Naruto was fighting Kyuubi raging inside him trying to take over and Sasuke´s hands were shaking, his chakra drained to almost zero. He looked at Naruto´s eyes getting more and more red, the pupils becoming slits, the whisker marks on his cheeks becoming deeper and darker.

"S-Sasuke…" Naruto´s voice was low and shaky. "R-Run…" "What?" Sasuke fell to the floor, trying to catch his breath. What did Naruto mean? "The… Kyuubi… taking over…" Sasuke raised his hand and touched Naruto´s forehead with two fingers. "Don´t let him." Naruto´s eyes fell shut and he shuddered. Sasuke knew he had stopped the Kyuubi. He let his own eyes close. It was almost sunset, the orange light reflecting on Naruto´s face. As he opened his eyes again Naruto´s eyes were their usual ocean blue.

"How can you… do that?" Sasuke didn´t respond, he just shrugged. Naruto grinned. "Now that´s… what I meant. Well, ready to… go seek and kill your brother…?" Sasuke shook his head weakly. "I already did", he said. "As if I would need your help, idiot." They fell silent for some seconds. Then Sasuke asked: "Well, you got any plans? Anything I can help you achieve?"

He knew Naruto knew this was his way to apologize and he was grateful Naruto understood it. "No", the blonde said. "Becoming Hokage, of course. And that I will do alone." He got up, his wounds already closing from the demon fox´s power. "I don´t need your help, you know, just as little as you need mine." He left Sasuke on the grass, looking to the darkening sky.

Both of them knew that wasn´t true. They needed each other, more than anything or anyone else. It had been one another who kept them going all the time. It would be one another who would make each of them stronger, now and as long as they would live. It was one another, after all, that they were bound to, if they liked it or not. Whether being friend or rivals or anything at all, they would never really get rid of one another, not if they didn´t kill each other. And if that was the way it would end it would just be. Sasuke didn´t know why, but the thought was somewhat… comforting.

He closed his eyes halfway and let tiredness overcome him, his body numb despite all the wounds. Already half asleep he noticed a flash of pink hair above him and felt healing chakra flowing into his body, healing his wounds. He blinked. Sakura had grown. Her face was calm and serious as she healed his wounds. She didn´t smile or talk and went away wordlessly as soon as she was finished, but he sensed forgiveness in everything she did.

He smiled. Not everyone had friends like his.

After all, maybe life wasn´t as bitter and dark as he had deemed it to be after his parents´ death.

Not sugar-sweet, not at all. But it would never be. Not for him or for anyone else. He sighed with his eyes closed. He would have to treat Naruto to Ichiraku´s in return for eating his ramen. With this in mind, he fell asleep.

--

PS: O.K.A.Y. Fourshot : ) This is finished. It really is. Sasuke will have a long and difficult way to go until the people of the village will accept him again, maybe he won´t reach that in all his life. Naruto will try to become Hokage and who says this is impossible? Kakashi doesn´t and Kakashi knows everything *nods nods*.

PPS: I hope you liked it and forgive me my mistakes for I am NOT A NATIVE SPEAKER (in case you´ve forgotten). I appreciate every review, even if only consisting of " " or something.

Toy.


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